Types of leisure programmes (festivals, events, sports, recreation)

Festivals

There are a lot of major and minor festivals in Vietnam, and mostly are based on the lunar calendar. The minor festivals are mostly either, religious, based upon pagodas and temples, or village festivals celebrating significant events. Most of the ethnic minority groups also hold regular festivals, often with important ritual significances relating to the cycle of the year.

Tet Nguyen-Dan festival (New Year’s Day) remains the most important and longest lasting of all Vietnamese festivals. Its celebration formally began on the first day of the New Year, but preparations often started at least one month in advance and continued for another month or more after the New Year’s Day. Given the importance of the transition, pre-colonial Vietnamese made every effort to settle outstanding affairs before the New Year’s Day.

The Le Thanh-minh (Pure Brightness Festival) celebrated during the third lunar month, is devoted to enjoying the beauty spring by hiking, gathering flowers and similar activities. This festival reminded Vietnamese of their ancestors and encouraged them to fulfil their filial duties such as cleaning of the ancestral gravesites. This festival is observed today throughout Vietnam.

Perfume Pagoda Festival lasts for two months and it is the longest festival held in Vietnam. It takes place from January to March every year. The principle days are the 15th of the 2nd lunar month. As Perfume pagoda is the biggest complex of pagodas in Vietnam therefore Perfume Pagoda Festival is organised in large scales.  During the Perfume Pagoda Festival, tens of thousands of tourists and pilgrims come to admire the beautiful landscapes, the grottoes and caves, and to implore the spirits for good luck, wealth and happiness in the several pagodas scattered throughout this mountainous area.

Mid-Autumn Festival (Tet Trung Thu) is the most important and widely celebrated festival in pre-colonial Vietnam. Like the New Year’s Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival is still widely observed in contemporary Vietnam and in diaspora communities. It is held on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. The Mid-Autumn Festival is marked with fanciful lanterns to help a legendary moon-bound figure back to Earth. Mid-Autumn parties serve cakes like the banh deo and banh nuong, shaped like fish and the moon. Finally, lion dances are commonly performed by travelling troupers who go from house to house to perform for a fee.

Major Events in Vietnam

National Day of Vietnam is celebrated on 2nd of September. September 2nd in Vietnam symbolizes the August 1945 Revolution and Vietnam National Day. This event marked the beginning of a new era for the Vietnamese nation.

On the National Day of Vietnam, the people and the leaders in Vietnam pay tribute to the national hero Ho Chi Minh and acknowledge his contribution towards the independence of Vietnam. This day is celebrated not only in Vietnam but also in all Vietnamese Embassies across the world as it is one of the foremost Vietnamese festivals & events.

Sports and Recreation

Vietnamese enjoy card games called “to tom”; board games such as chess, “human chess” in which people wearing the insignia of the various pieces moved about a giant outdoor board under the directions of the primary players, and dao dai which is called “hitting the dish”. Affluent urban Vietnamese often visit Western-style bars and nightclubs or socialise at coffeehouses, movie houses or internet service centres.

Older people can be seen practising tai chi early in the morning or taking a walk. Young men take fitness seriously and many work out in gyms. Tennis is played by wealthier people. Badminton, table tennis, soccer and volleyball are popular. After school, children train in ballet, marital arts (Vo Viet Nam) or music. Many join the Scouts or the Young Pioneers’ Club, a government run organisation.

Vietnamese also enjoy playing sports such as marital arts (Vo Viet Nam), soccer, volleyball and table tennis which require little equipment and facilities.